Pilot

 Synopsis: 

Amid a rogue cover-up of a cop-involved hit-and-run, the victim's family searches for answers while a troubled prosecutor digs for the truth. (More detailed description of the episode is below, but it will contain spoilers. Please proceed with caution.)

Run time: 54 minutes

(After reading the detailed narrative below, check out my blogpost on this episode and leave a comment. See anything I missed?  Let me know there!  It will be much appreciated) The opening theme is performed by Michael Kiwanuka and is called "Love & Hate". The opening scene shows a blue Ford Explorer driving fast through a snowy park outside of New York City as you can see the Statue of Liberty in the background. The driver is talking on his cellphone to someone named DiAngelo. The driver thinks that it's someone named Marie calling but then tells DiAngelo that he can't get through to her. DiAngelo assures him that she and the baby will pull through. We soon find out that the driver of the Ford Explorer is Peter Jablonski. He tells DiAngelo that he has to go and that he is going to try to call her again.

As he is hanging up the cell phone, the viewers hear a loud popping noise and the Ford Explorer swerves and Pete loses control of the SUV momentarily before coming to a complete stop in the snowy park. He gets out of the vehicle and looks around. He has a slight abrasion over his right eye. There is some damage to his front bumper, and as he is looking around, it looks as if he doesn't see anything. We then see him pay attention to the passenger side of his vehicle and there he sees the back of the bicycle with the seat and back tire showing. On the tire is a seagull. There may be some relevance as to why there was a seagull on the bike tire, as in the opening credits, you see seagulls in a room. There is also reference later in the episode to a seagull. There are tons of websites dedicated to the symbolism of seagulls that you can look at for reference.

As the snow starts to fall heavier, we see a black Dodge Charger (New Jersey Plates CRE 243) with red racing stripes on the hood and roof of the car pull up behind Pete's Ford Explorer and approach him. We will later find out that these are his colleagues, Mike DiAngelo, his supervisor, Manny Wilcox, and Felix Osorio. Pete is obviously shaken up as DiAngelo asks him if he is ok. He replies that "he came out of nowhere".

Felix nods at DiAngelo to look over at a hill. DiAngelo looks up and the viewer can see blood covered snow and a shoe. DiAngelo walks up the hill and looks over. Felix soon follows and DiAngelo starts to walk away and tells Felix to stay on the road. DiAngelo walks back over to Pete's vehicle and kicks his bumper off the front of his car, leaving his license plate on. He directs Manny Wilcox to put it in the trunk of the Dodge Charger and Wilcox complies.

Pete tells DiAngelo that they have to call this in. DiAngelo tells him that "he's dead" and that there's nothing he can do for him. DiAngelo tells him that no one is going to find him there and no one is going to know. DiAngelo has this. He tells him to go be with his wife and to drive away. He shuts the driver's side door leaving Pete at the wheel. Pete starts his blue Ford Explorer and drives over the bicycle and away from the crime scene. DiAngelo tells the other two cops to get the bicycle out of the road. He walks back toward the scene and sees what looks like an abandoned building.

The next scene the viewers see Pete running through the hospital hallway and walks in to a maternity room to see a male nurse helping his wife. Marie tells Pete that she was spotting and the nurse says they did an ultrasound and asks Pete if he wants to see it. Pete gets an attitude with the nurse and tells him to get the doctor. The nurse walks out. Marie assures Pete that everything is fine and the bleeding has stopped.

The next scene cuts to a young teenaged blonde girl standing in front of a school bus that has St. Peters School (Bus Number 17283) on it. She is looking up the stairs of the school as if she were waiting for someone. She sees a teacher, gets on her cell phone briefly as she turns away and ends the call and puts the phone away. The teacher, who we later find out to be Latrice Butler, approaches her and makes conversation with the girl who says she is waiting on her brother who is in the sixth grade and Latrice says that they left already, and maybe he walked home. She asks that maybe there may be someone she may want to call and the girl says she just tried to call her mom. She says that her brother takes his bike to school.

The next scene the girl is in the car with Latrice Butler and they are in a sketchy part of town. Latrice comments "What your brother would be doing down here is beyond me". The girl proceeds to tell her that he's not here, he's at the park. There is graffiti all over the place, it looks like a heavily police patrolled area. One of the graffiti images stood out very clear. It was an image of a male holding a gun that read "Fuck the Police". This could be a little trivia thrown in, but then again, not. This may be in reference to the NWA song of the same name. Actress Regina King starred with Ice Cube who was a founding member of NWA in the movie Boyz n The Hood. There is a bike park and you see the girl and Latrice walking under a bridge toward the park looking for her brother. She doesn't see him and doesn't know where else he could be. She then sees him and yells out his name. Ryan. And then he looks at her and she yells out a few expletive words and the teacher looks at her in disbelief. You see Latrice putting the bicycle in the trunk of her Pontiac sedan and the girl is in the front seat while Ryan is in the back telling his sister to "fuck off". Ryan sat on something and hands it to Latrice. He says that he sat on it and he is sorry and hands it to her. He asks her what it is. Latrice takes it and is straightening it and is explaining that it's a seagull that her son made. She puts it on her dashboard.

Next scene shows a woman in a bar reading a book sipping on a mixed drink. The background music playing in the bar is "Keep on Movin'" by Soul II Soul. We later find out that this woman is the Assistant Prosecutor, KJ Harper. She is obviously buzzed, if not drunk, as she is dancing in her chair. The bartender asks her if she is ready for another and she tells him "yeah". You then see her running with lots of files in her arms down a courthouse hallway. She enters a courtroom and you hear the bailiff say "All rise" as soon as she gets to her table.

KJ starts off her statement by saying "Your Honor, the State presents Complaint Number 5977. This is the defendent's third shoplifting charge. Ms. Lufts stole $200 in cat food." She had the wrong defedant. Judge Blatt told her to get her paperwork in order before coming into the courtroom. She told him she had it right there and he dismissed the case. KJ is next seen walking outside to a press conference with a white male giving a speech about how police violence in the black and brown communities has no place in New Jersey as the rest of the country as they have a "gold standard" in their community. This is due to good policing and community relations that have been a priority of his since he has been the prosecutor. KJ immediately exits the building and you can hear a reporter ask when he will be announcing his run for Govenor.

Outside of the courthouse, we see KJ get into a Nissan SUV and she looks sick. She takes a few deep breaths as the scene changes to Pete inside his garage looking at his Ford Explorer. He kneels down and touches what is left of his bumper. He opens the garage door and goes outside and vomits. As he is going outside, the viewer sees that his house number is 213. His neighbor across the street sees him as he is shoveling snow, stops, and waves at Pete. Pete acknowledges him and waves back. We see that his license plate is New Jersey PNG 927. He goes back inside the garage and closes the garage door.

The scene changes to show the Statue of Liberty and then two people walking in a park yelling for their dog. The dog is barking. As they approach the dog, the man's face has a distraught look.

The next scene we see Latrice Butler opening a door to a church and grabs a tambourine. She is obviously late for choir practice. She looks over at the organist and shrugs and flirts with him. The next scene shows the two of them entering a house on Lexington St. She calls for her son, Brenton, to see if he is home. No response. Isaiah then says, "Brenton, your mama's calling you, boy". And there is still no answer. There is a comment made that he should be there because Uncle Seth is coming home and he is so excited that that is all he could talk about.

Latrice goes upstairs to check to see if Brenton is in his room. There are boxes all over the house like someone is moving in or out. There's a "Welcome Home Uncle Seth" sign that is hung up near the living room. As Isaiah goes to the back door to check to see if Brenton is outside playing, he hits play on the answering machine and there is one new message. The message is from a male stating that he is looking for the parents of Brenton Butler and to call the South District Police Station when they get the message. Isaiah immediately shuts the door and looks at the answering machine. Latrice walks downstairs and looks at Isaiah.

The next scene shows sirens and Pete getting out of a car. He crosses under police tape and onto a crime scene. He overhears a detective and an officer talking about how they found him on a BMX bike and was pretty banged up and the detective asking if there is any ID on the kid. The officer says, "Brenton Butler, black male, 15 years old." They notified the parents that he's at the ER at the Jersey City Medical Center. It's also stated that no one has had a conversation with the parents yet. Pete asks someone if the kid is alive and they said that he was, but probably brain dead.

Pete walks over and sees the bicycle with the seagull still on the tire.

Cut to Latrice and Isaiah running into the ER and up to the Reception desk. They are told to wait and the doctor will be out to talk to them after he is done with surgery. The receptionist is rather rude with them considering they have no idea what happened to their child except that he was involved in an accident. She keeps telling them to have a seat. Latrice sits in the lobby and starts filling out paperwork while Isaiah paces and is obviously praying to himself. Latrice starts praying aloud. Isaiah waks over to her and grabs her hand.

The next scene shows a karaoke bar with KJ drinking and singing Lisa Stansfield's "Been Around The World".

Cut to KJ driving drunk and falling asleep while driving. She wakes up just in time before hitting a semi head-on. She pulls over leans back in her seat and looks like she is about to take a nap. Her cell phone starts to buzz and the next scene shows a man being interrogated. He appears to be homeless and is talking about sleeping in his car and how no one bothers him. Mac Dorsey is being interrogated by Joe 'Fish' Rinaldi. He insists that he was asleep under the Pulaski all day and that nobody bothers him there until "that cop came banging on" his window. Rinaldi then asks him if he drove through the park that morning. Mac Dorsey insists that he was not driving through the park and that he was sleeping all day under the Pulaski. For the viewers not familiar with the Pulaski (such as the editor of this post), Google maps did an amazing job showing just how long the Pulaski Skyway is. It is literally just next to Liberty State Park in which parts of this episode were filmed. To give you an example, these are just some directions from the Park to the Pulaski.

KJ is another room watching the interview. DiAngelo knocks on the door and enters with Wilcox and asks her if she is the on-call AP. She states that they just put her back on an hour ago. DiAngelo tells her that one of his CI's tipped him off to the elderly guy being interrogated that they saw him cleaning blood off his car near the park earlier. She asks DiAngelo why narcotics is interested in the hit and run. He states that they just got a tip and he looks good for it. We learn that Dorsey has two prior DUI's and DiAngelo makes a comment that it was just a matter of time before he killed someone.

DiAngelo formerly introduces himself to KJ and says that he has seen her at the courthouse before working the shoplifting cases. At this point, Wilcox starts to chuckle and KJ gives him a vile look. She looks back at DiAngelo and back down at the case file. DiAngelo tells her. "You got this tied up with a bow. You got enough for a plea without lifting one bejeweled nail". KJ tells him that she knows how to do her job and he tells her to then do it. You can hear a cellphone buzzing in the background. KJ tells DiAngelo that Dorsey believes he was asleep in his car. DiAngelo questions her with, "What's he going to say? 'Oh, I just rolled over some kid's head in my Buick, my bad?'". KJ grabs the case file and leaves. As she is leaving, viewers can hear a cellphone buzzing again. Wilcox tells DiAngelo that Jablonski keeps calling.

Cut to KJ walking out to her vehicle with the file and 'Fish' runs out of the building after her to introduce himself. He tells her that he is former NYPD. He asks KJ if she is going to the hospital and she says yes. He asks if he can ride along so he can get the Brenton's belongings. He tells her that if they pass a bodega on the way, she may want to stop for some mints out of respect for the family because he can smell her from a mile away. She then tells him that she has to stop by the office for some paperwork and for him to get his own way there.

Viewers next see Seth Butler in military fatigues come running in the hospital. He drops his gear and starts hugging Isaiah Butler. Latrice tells Seth that Brenton has been counting down the days to see him in uniform and hear his stories from Afghanistan and Kandastan. About this time, Dr. Sayegh walks out into the waiting room and is looking for the parents of Brenton Butler. She tells them that she was able to relieve pressure on his brain, but there has been significant impact, primarily to the posterior cortex, which is the back of his head. His injury means that he could lose the ability to function on his own and that he could be on a ventilator for a long time. This gives insight that Brenton was struck from behind and possibly didn't see the vehicle behind him when he was hit.

Latrice asks the doctor what happened. She wants to know if he was at school or what because the police haven't told them anything. Dr. Sayegh states that she doesn't know and apologizes. When asked if they can see him, she tells them not everyone, just the parents. Latrice and Isaiah enter an ICU room and hear monitors beeping and the ventilator breathing for Brenton. Latrice places her hands on her chest and stomach and starts to get very emotional as to not try to breakdown.

We then see Peter Jablonski entering the South District Police Department. He walks over to Felix Osirio and asks where DiAngelo is. Felix tells him to follow him. Pete tells Felix that he DiAngelo isn't picking his phone up and that no one is picking their phone up. Felix remains silent until they get into a room and Felix shuts the door for privacy. Felix slams Pete up against the wall and tells Pete that DiAngelo would lose his mind if he knew Pete was there right now. Felix tells Pete that they are taking care of it. Pete tells Felix that the kid's alive and questions Felix about how that is taking care of it. Pete tells Felix that this is wrong and he knows it's wrong. Felix backs off of him. Pete tells him that this whole situation is going to blow up and they are all going to go to prison over an accident. Felix then says, "A white cop and a black kid . Don't you watch the news? There are no fucking accidents anymore, and you know it. The assistant prosecutor's filing papers on a guy tonight. It's over." Pete asks who the guy is and Felix tells him that it really doesn't matter, it's not him. Pete walks out of the room and Felix stares at the wall.

On his way out of the station, Pete stops and speaks with the desk Sgt. asking who is working the hit-and-run at the park. She tells him that it's a new guy, Rinaldi, and he left about an hour ago and doesn't know when he will be back. He tells her he needs to speak with the Captain direct. He writes down his cell phone number in her notepad (which looks like 201-555-0873). He tells her to make sure he gets it.

Viewers next see KJ in an elevator and as the elevator makes the "ding" noise, the door opens and she finds 'Fish' standing in the hallway with a paper bag telling her that he has the kid's clothing. He asks her is she got all of her personal business taken care of. She continues to walk past him.

As 'Fish' and KJ make their way to waiting area, 'Fish', in a loud voice, starts asking for Mr. and Mrs. Butler. Seth steps up and asks who he is. 'Fish' states that they are with the prosecutor's office. Isaiah asks them what happened to their son. No one has told them anything except that he was in a car accident. KJ looks at them both with grief. 'Fish' asks Isaiah if they can have some privacy to talk and Isaiah asks Joseph if he can take friends and family to a nearby waiting area. KJ starts to explain that there will be a bail hearing in the morning, but Seth interrupts her stating that isn't what they asked. They need to know exactly what happened.

'Fish' proceeds to tell them that their son was involved in a hit-and-run in Liberty State Park earlier this morning. Isaiah interrupts and asks, "This morning?", since they had only called to notify them just a few hours ago. 'Fish' then tells him that's because two people and their dog found him tonight. KJ then states that they have the man they believe to have done this in custody. When Isaiah asks her to be a little more clearer with the details, she drops the files and apologizes. Latrice lends a hand while 'Fish' then states that their son has a nice bike. 'Fish' then states that the Five Kings rides them, too. He then says that the series of BMX bike Brenton was riding is very expensive. He is trying to insinuate that Brenton may be involved with a gang.

Seth then steps in and starts questioning 'Fish' if he is really going to go to do this now. He doesn't appreciate him coming to the hospital and accusing his nephew of anything, but before he can finish, Isaiah interrupts. Latrice stands up from helping KJ pick up the paperwork and says that they bought the bike for Brenton's upcoming sixteenth birthday. Isaiah then asks what is going to happen to the man that did this to his son. KJ states that she is going to charge Mr. Dorsey with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in serious bodily injury which is a felony and asking for the maximum sentence. Seth asks what that sentence is. Her reply is three to five years. Latrice looks a little shocked. Isaiah looks a little in disbelief as he looks at Seth. Latrice is overcome with emotion and states that whoever did this to her son deserves to die. KJ apologizes and walks outside to her car.

At some point, we learn that Brenton is in Jersey City Medical Center Intensive Care Unit 1-B.

Frustrated, she keeps hitting her lock and unlock function on her keychain and 'Fish' tells her that she only needs to hit it once to unlock it. She is obviously frustrated. He goes to the passenger side of her car to try to get in to speak with her but she has locked the doors. He says that they have to get to impound for the paperwork for Dorsey's car, but KJ ignores him. He starts to draw something on her dirty window and tells her to look. She finally looks over at him and he has drawn a smiley face on the window with his fingers. She unlocks the door and he gets into the vehicle.

Back inside the hospital, the viewer sees the Pastor and family gathered in the waiting room as they are praying for Brenton. Latrice leaves and walks down the hallway to Brenton's room. The ventilator and monitors can be heard. She looks up and sees Pete standing in Brenton's room looking over him. He looks over at Latrice. He asks Latrice if Brenton is going to live. Latrice gives him a strange look and asks, "What?". Pete apologizes and says he was in the wrong room and walks out past Latrice. She stands outside of the room and watches him walk around the corner down the hallway. She then quickly turns her head and looks in on Brenton.

We then see Pete pull up and park a Suzuki sedan in his driveway. When he gets out of the car, he sees a set of headlights flash and looks up to see DiAngelo's black Dodge Charger parked on the other side of the street. Pete walks over and gets into the passenger side of the Charger. Pete tells DiAngelo that he is going to turn himself in, but nobody is going to know that none of them were there. DiAngelo gives a little nod and says, "Just to be clear this is what's gonna happen. Well, they are gonna fuck you for Ferguson, Chicago, Baltimore for every white cop who ever killed a black kid." Pete tells him again that it was an accident and DiAngelo tells him that no one gives a shit. DiAngelo tells him that before he does anything, to think about what kind of father he would be if he were behind bars. He tells Pete that he's a good cop and that's why he picked him. He then tells Pete, "You and me? We're a dying breed.  And we take care of our own.  You understand?" Viewers are to believe that DiAngelo is a "good" cop. This scene alone is reminiscent of some of the writing from FX's The Shield. DiAngelo then pulls out a slip of paper and holds it out. It was his name and number he left with the desk Sgt. at the station to give to the Captain. DiAngelo crinkles the paper up and drops it to the floor. He tells Pete not to go behind his back again.

Marie is looking out of the window and sees Pete in the Charger. She closes the curtain and walks away from the window.

KJ and 'Fish' are at the impound lot. KJ is alone in the car and she pulls out a small bottle of liquor. 'Fish' is talking to the attendant at the lot and asking for the paperwork on his hit-and-run for Mac Dorsey's car. KJ looks on to make sure 'Fish' is occupied before she starts nursing her bottle of liquor. Out of the blue, 'Fish' yells at KJ, startling her, mid-sip, stating that they need her signature for the paperwork. She gets out and signs the paperwork and is asked if she wants to wait inside as it will take about half an hour to process everything to release the vehicle. She says she will wait in the car. As KJ is walking to her car, 'Fish' gets a call that sounds like it is in regards to his children.

KJ makes a detour over to Mac Dorsey's car and opens the door. She looks inside and then decides to sit inside on the driver's side. The driver's side seat is all the way back, as if Mac Dorsey had been laying down. Has Dorsey been telling the truth the entire time? The viewer can start to realize that this may be going through KJ's head at this point. 'Fish', now off of the phone, starts to walk over to Dorsey's car. KJ finds an unopened bottle of liquor that has "Top Shelf" written on the label. 'Fish' jokingly asks her if she's going to hit that. She looks up at him. He says, "Because there's a cream." KJ asks, "What?" 'Fish' then says, "I'm telling you, hobo herpes, it's a thing." KJ gets up out of the car. 'Fish' then looks inside the car briefly and shuts the driver's side door.

Latrice looks on as a nurse is changing out an IV bag for Brenton. Seth walks up and tells Isaiah that the pastor found a chapel. Isaiah stands up and leans behind Latrice. He asks her why she told the police that they bought Brenton that bike. Latrice said that based on his face, he already had his mind made up that he was already in a gang. Isaiah asks where Brenton got the bike and what was he doing in that park. Isaiah then tells Latrice that he will not tolerate her covering up for Brenton anymore. Isaiah says that he knew Brenton had been going back to the projects and that park even after he told him not to. Latrice tells Isaiah that he misses his friends and his home. Isaiah is quick to point out that isn't his home anymore. Latrice then tells Isaiah that she doesn't know where he got the bike. Isaiah walks away. Seth tells her that she should go with him. Latrice walks off in the direction of Isaiah.

Back in KJ's vehicle, 'Fish' is going over the crime scene photos and states that the kid must've been conscious for a while. It is here that we learn KJ used to work homicide. She asks 'Fish' if he saw the driver's seat in Dorsey's car. He nods yes. She says that the narc cop said they had to chase him down driving around the park and that's how they caught him. She then questions how you can drive lying down.

'Fish' tells her he will see her at trial in the morning and jokingly tells her not to forget those mints. KJ taps on the windshield and flips him off. She's putting the release form from the impound lot in with the files and realizes she is missing something. She goes back to the hospital and is looking on the floor where she had dropped her files earlier. She walks into Brenton's hospital room and sees the paper near the window. She then sees Brenton's reflection in the window. She turns and looks at him and the viewer can see the extent of his injuries are also on his arms. She walks out after briefly speaking with the nurse.

The next morning shows Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty. You see DiAngelo walking into a courtroom as the Clerk is reading "Complaint number 39012, the State versus Mac Henry Dorsey. The counselor's appearance for the record". The Judge then asks, "Is the State gonna talk?" We then hear, "Judge, it's not my complaint number." The Judge then asks where his prosecutor is and the gentleman says he doesn't know. 'Fish' looks around the courtroom. The Judge then calls for the next case. As the Clerk is reading "Complaint number 39013, the State versus Lonny Mendoza", the camera zooms in to DiAngelo's face of disbelief that KJ did not show up for court.

Cut to Liberty State Park. Geese are flying overhead. Torn police tape is still seen. KJ is sitting inside of her SUV. She looks over at the crime scene and gets out of her vehicle. As she is walking toward the crime scene, we see there is a teenaged girl peering through a window from an abandoned building watching her. KJ walks up the hill where there is still a significant amount of blood-covered snow and looks out across the river that faces the back of the Statue of Liberty.